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Hikaru's mother died early and was subsequently raised by his father. As a teenager, he had a happy-go-lucky attitude.[1] He dreamed of flying, like his father, who was tragically killed after his plane crashed. His "senpai", Roy Focker, took care of him as he grew up.

Hikaru was reluctant to become a military pilot at first since he did not want to kill people, but circumstances would eventually lead him to such a career. Even so, this philosophy of his remained intact. In fact, his promotion as the leader of the Vermillion Squadron came after a successful rescue mission. While Hikaru can seem sweet, as seen when he offers Lynn Minmay his medal, he can be prickly and callous towards others, such as his initial attitude towards Misa Hayase. This is in part due to growing up in a household of only men. He is also a bit clumsy, getting into mishaps when he least expects it.

However, circumstances change when Minmay achieves fame and stardom, leaving Hikaru to dwell on the ongoing war with the Zentradi. He takes the loss of Roy and his subordinate, Hayao Kakizaki hard, and slips into malaise when Earth is nearly wiped out. He begins to realize his true self when he's with Misa, and why he decided to become a pilot. This ultimately plays a role in deciding who he wishes to be with in the end.

His hobby is making plastic model airplanes, evidenced by the VF-X-4 and XB-70 Valkyrie models displayed in his military dormitory room.

Hikaru was stunt pilot who flew Fokker D.VII biplanes in his father's flying circus with his Senpai, Roy Focker. Roy would fly in front with Hikaru puttering behind, and thus Hikaru kept telling himself that he would not be behind Focker forever. As the Unification Wars dawned after the ship that became the SDF-1 Macross first crashed on Earth, Roy became fighter pilot for the United Nations and promised Hikaru's father that he would return after the war. (SDFM: "Boobytrap")

He was invited by Major Roy Focker to attend the launch ceremony of the SDF-1 Macross. On February 7, 2009,[1] Hikaru (invite #10-21) took Roy's offer to fly to the Macross quite literally and was detected by Misa Hayase, who was on board the bridge of the Macross. Hikaru flew his Fan Racer into a presentation featuring the U.N. Spacy's new fighters, frustrating Roy while the audience (among them, Lynn Minmay and Yoshio) laughed at their conversation. Hikaru followed the VF-1A Valkyrie Angel Birds in his Fan Racer and the audience were impressed even more, including Roy who was simultaneously angry at Hikaru's boost-to-an-inverted-climb which Roy actually taught Hikaru.

Hikaru walked with Roy past an FL-200 Mistral, who thought he was cocky for winning the amateur pilot competition two or three times (seven as Hikaru corrects), however Roy brushed it off as he shot down more than 180 planes during the Unification Wars, as Hikaru jokingly called him a murderer. Getting cans of Petite Cola together, Hikaru reminded Roy of the promise he made to his dad, and Roy apologized for not returning and told Hikaru that he must fly a fighter plane himself to understand. As the cola machine rolled away, they saw Yoshio demanding a cola from Minmay.

Wanting to fly one of the new fighters, Roy let Hikaru check out a VF-1D Valkyrie designated as VT-102, Suddenly the SDF-1 fired its cannon automatically so Roy decided to check the problem, telling Hikaru to stay right there. He stayed put in the cockpit as Roy said and was sleeping. Misa appeared on his screen, wondering why his VF-1D (VT-102) hadn't taken off from the Display Grounds. Puzzled, he tried to leave, but personnel fit VT-102 with a gunpod, preparing him for launch, despite the mess the runaway was in. A man closed the cockpit and he accepted that he must now fight. He screamed while flying through the explosions, there was fear in his eyes as he saw a Gnerl's triple-barrel beam gun destroy a VF-1A. Roy, appears on his screen and told all fighters in the Sepia and Mont Flightto scatter the enemy units in Zone 428.

Realizing his Senpai's the Skull Leader, he hailed Roy. Roy asked him when he became a fighter pilot, but he believed he'd never become one. He screamed as he came off of Roy's screen but he's ok. Roy told him to keep it level, and fly in formation like in an airshow. Roy casually launched missiles on a Gnerl approaching VT-102. He couldn't believe Roy could be so laid back in a time like that. Roy joked that in airshows, he'd would always be in front with Hikaru puttering behind. Hikaru shouted that he would't be behind Roy forever, Roy praised his spirit and led the way. He swept VT-102's wings back but he was hit by beams from a Gnerl. He blanked out, flashing back to when he was piloting Fokker D.VII biplanes. Remembering Roy in a biplane waving goodbye, he woke up to find VT-102 spinning towards the ground. Misa hailed him and ordered him to veer off immediately because he was about to collide with the SDF-1. He explained to Misa that it was no good as the rudders and spoilers were acting crazy and nothing else was responding. Misa told him to change to configuration B (Battroid mode) but He had no idea what "B" meant.

It was at this moment that Misa realized that he was a civilian so Misa told him to pull the B-switch on the left of his console and engage ACS. Limbs appeared from VT-102. Landing, he crushed three buildings but stopped when VT-102's hands pulled down an electrical transmission tower, crushing a fourth building. VT-102 lay in rubble in Battroid mode and it stood up in front of the Nyan-Nyan.(SDFM: "Boobytrap")

He sat in VT-102 standing in the middle of a road, and in Battroid mode, it walked towards the Nyan-Nyan. The Mayor, his colleague and another civilian saw the VT-102 and thought it was an alien robot. Lynn Minmay, her aunt, and her uncle hid behind the entrance to the Nyan-Nyan. Yoshio ran over from across the street, past VT-102. Yoshio was excited and ran up to Minmay's room on the third floor to get a better look at VT-102. The head of VT-102 opens, the back set rises first so Yoshio assumed no-one was inside but Hikaru then arises sitting in the front (or rather, bottom) seat.

Hikaru is surprised that his plane became a robot, Minmay and Yoshio are just as surprised and ask Hikaru how it happened but Hikaru has no answer, he also denies he is part of the military so Yoshio accuses him of stealing it. Suddenly, a man driving a refrigerator fish truck honks his horn and tells Hikaru to get out of the way because he's trying to get to the shelter. Hikaru returns inside VT-102 and says goodbye to Minmay. He attempts to make VT-102 walk but nearly falls on the opposite building, so he activates the thrusters but the torque was great enough that VT-102 falls the other way, crashing into the Nyan-Nyan with the upper torso embedded in Minmay's room, luckily she and Yoshio are fine. The SDF-1 attempts to rise from the surface but the gravity control systems which enable it to fly break through the bow of the ship, as First Lieutenant Hayase points out.

Captain Global complains about the ship's quality before she interrupts his use of profanity by reminding him it is mainly salvaged parts. Two refrigerator fish trucks try to pull VT-102 leaning on the Nyan-Nyan but it falls the other way, onto one of the houses of the truck drivers. Major Roy Focker leads the Skull Squadron back to the SDF-1 Macross in his VF-1S Valkyrie, telling First Lieutenant Hayase that he's sent the enemy back to where they came from. He's pleased to learn from her that Hikaru managed to make an emergency landing and then tells the rest of his squadron to head back to the Prometheus. He flies around the city, spotting VT-102 and hails Hikaru.

The two soon discover their assailants are giant humans known as Zentradi. They quickly dispatch a warrior who was about to recover, and fly off. Along the way, Hikaru manages to rescue Minmay as she falls from the sky, placing her in the back seat of his cockpit. They flee to the Macross right before it performs a space fold above the island. Hikaru and Minmay soon realize they were now on the edge of the solar system, near Pluto. They manage to fly past the debris to seek shelter within the massive space fortress. It would be two weeks before they are found. In that time, Minmay and Hikaru talked about their hopes and dreams, and what they would do if they made it out alive. To survive, Hikaru went so far as to go into outer space and catch a floating giant tuna. When they are rescued, Minmay decides to re-open her uncle's restaurant within the makeshift city within the ship, while Hikaru joins the U.N. Spacy.

Minmay would soon become a homegrown celebrity following her winning at the Miss Macross Contest. This does not sit well with Hikaru, who sees Minmay moving further away from him as she seeks fame and stardom. He eventually gets lost in the triangular relationship with his superior, Misa Hayase, which is only deepened battle after battle. When Hikaru is left gravely injured after Misa gave ineffective orders during battle, she visits him in the hospital and begs his forgiveness. Hikaru would only grow more as a dedicated soldier after the death of Focker and his subordinate, Hayao Kakizaki.

In preparation for the final battle in Space War I, Hikaru, uncertain if he would survive, confesses his feelings to Minmay, but is denied by her cousin Lynn Kaifun, who strongly opposes the military.

After the end of the war, Hikaru's relationship with Misa would deepen further, but would not go beyond a romantic relationship as they still could not be honest with their feelings. In the meantime, Minmay, suffering a downturn in her career, realizes that she was only truly happy when she was with Hikaru. She leaves Kaifun and spends time with Hikaru during Christmas, something that upsets Misa. She realizes she has nothing left on Earth, and accepts a mission to head a space migration mission headed towards the Milky Way. She then confesses her feelings towards Hikaru, right before Quamzin Kravshera begins his final assault on Macross City. Hikaru then decides right then and there who he has to be with, and it is with Misa. After the battle, he parts on good terms with Minmay, and encourages her to never stop singing.

After Space War I, Hikaru was promoted to a Captain after being assigned on Apollo Base and performing test flights with the Solar System Patrol Team on the moon. He worked closely with the development team on the next variable fighter, the VF-X-4. He then married Misa Ichijyo and became a pilot of the SDF-2 Megaroad-01.(FB2012) Hikaru and Misa had a daughter in 2013 which they named Miku Ichijyo.

He was then in command of Skull Squadron, piloting the new VF-4 Lightning III and assigned as the escort unit of the SDF-2 Megaroad-01 fleet.[2] The Megaroad made its way to the Milky Way, but was cut off from contact in 2016.[3] His fate was unknown.

In the The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? film that chronicles the events of Space War I, Hikaru is depicted as already being a pilot in the U.N. Spacy. In this movie, he piloted a custom VF-1A Valkyrie as opposed to a VF-1J Valkyrie. He had a similar initial relationship to Misa, but Minmay is already an established singer in this version and he first encountered her during the war. After saving Minmay during transformation of the SDF-1 Macross, they were left stranded for three days. Once they were out, rumors of scandals started to spread. Against orders, Hikaru took a VT-1 "Super Ostrich" Valkyrie on a sight-seeing flight with Minmay. Kaifun and Misa encountered them telling them to go back to the ship but a Zentradi attack occurred and they are captured along with Roy Focker.

Trying to escape, Roy told Hikaru to kiss Misa to stall the Zentradi by shocking them; Misa slaps Hikaru and they escaped. Eventually, Hikaru and Misa's mutual affection became the strongest and Hikaru succeeded Roy as the leader of the Skull Squadron (albeit after returning from being MIA with Misa, in which Max was depicted as the temporary leader). Hikaru then got his own VF-1S Valkyrie custom painted in his VF-1A Valkyrie's colors. [4]

By the 2040s, the movie was also adapted as a play in which Basara Nekki plays the role of the famous variable fighter pilot. (7: "Minmay Video")

Hikaru originally saw Misa as nothing more than his superior officer. Misa disliked Hikaru's care-free attitude as he was not originally a member of the military. However, the pair develop a close relationship as the series went on. During the climactic final battle on Earth, Hikaru is made to choose whether he loved Minmay or Misa. He chose Misa. The couple later wed and they had a daughter named Miku Ichijyo.

Hikaru met Minmay after he saved her life during the first attack by the Zentradi on Earth. They later got trapped deep within the SDF-1 Macross, and the pair developed a close relationship since. As Minmay's singing career flourished, the two grew apart. Hikaru ultimately chose Misa Hayase over her.

Roy is Hikaru's senpai, a mentor and big brother figure. They both flew together and were part of Hikaru's father's flying circus. Roy taught Hikaru how to perform a boost to an inverted climb. During their time in the flying circus, Hikaru would putter around behind Roy. Hikaru didn't like this and vowed that he would not be behind Roy forever. For a time, Hikaru disliked jet fighters and their pilots, as it reminded him of Roy's broken promise of returning to the flying circus after the Unification Wars. After Hikaru accidentally went into battle alongside Roy with a VF-1D, he began to trust him once more. (SDFM: "Boobytrap") When Hikaru's father died, Roy became a father figure for Hikaru too, and was the person that Hikaru relied on the most.[5] Roy was the one who first persuaded Hikaru to join the U.N. Spacy. (SDFM: "Transformation")

Of all the characters in Super Dimension Fortress Macross, it was his that changed the least in preproduction.[1]

Hikaru's English voice actor in the series is Vic Mignogna, best known for his role as Edward Elric in both anime adaptations of Fullmetal Alchemist. He also voices Kurz Weber in Full Metal Panic! with Misa Hayase's voice actor, Monica Rial, Maximilian Jenius's voice actor, Chris Patton, and Milia Fallyna Jenius's voice actor, Luci Christian. Most recently, Vic Mignogna has become known for playing the role of Captain James T. Kirk in the fan produced live action Youtube series Star Trek Continues.

Hikaru's English voice actor in the Tohou-produced dub of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? is John Culkin, who provides voices for Jackie Chan's characters Kevin Chan and Jackie in the English dubs of Police Story and Armour of God, respectively. He also voices Rippersnapper, Spacepunch, Counterpunch and Brainstorm in English dub of Transformers: The Headmasters.